Listen Up: Rocky Votolato's 'The Brag & Cuss'

Published 10:00 pm, Tuesday, June 19, 2007

"Jack Daniels in one hand/ Basic Light in the other/ My two best friends for so long that I can't even remember," Rocky Votolato sings during "Postcard From Kentucky." Haunted characters such as this are not uncommon in the solo work from the former Waxwing frontman.

And yet, for almost every forlorn lament, Votolato counters the sad sentiment with a touch of hope, or, in "Lilly White," some good advice: "Hold on too tight, you'll lose everything."

What makes "The Brag & Cuss" new and exciting is that it's more of a band record than last year's collection of minimalist folk tunes on his breathtaking, breakthrough album, "Makers." The new album also leans markedly in the direction of pure country, which is nice since most of today's country music doesn't sound like country music at all; it sounds like polished turds with a twang.

Votolato, however, realizes that the heart and soul of country music is not in its shiny, superproduced veneer but its bare, emotional honesty. On this record, much of that honesty is longing: longing for those left behind or longing for those who left, as in the pining slow waltz "Whiskey Straight."

A few variations on family appear thematically. Most notably are "Silver Trees" and "Before You Were Born." The former is a spooky and naked acoustic song that would be comfortable among Nick Drake's dark lullabies. The latter could be a message from parent to child just as easily as a letter from one lover to another: "Just like you and me some things are meant to be/ I knew you before you were born."

Which brings up a nice facet of Votolato's writing -- it's layered, almost magical in its economy. That's the bread of the album. The sauce is the country gravy: pedal steel, harmonica, banjo, mandolin, accordion, Hammond B3 and, of course, a few shots of booze. It's all there, peppered throughout and arranged expertly into 11 laid-back laments. DOWNLOAD: "Before You were Born"